Few owners and breeders have been more successful in North American racing than Godolphin, especially in recent years. Since 2021, the global racing and breeding operation has netted six Eclipse Awards for leading owner and breeder, nine Breeders’ Cup wins, and a classic win in the 2021 Belmont Stakes with Essential Quality.

Yet year after year, one race seemed to elude them: the $600,000 Darley Alcibiades Stakes, the prestigious opening-day feature at Keeneland that is sponsored by Godolphin’s stallion division.

Now, even that race has Godolphin’s name in its stake-winning history. On Oct. 4, their talented homebred 2-year-old filly Immersive ended the winless spell in the Grade 1 contest, defeating Quickick by 1 ¼ lengths, with show finisher Quietside another two lengths back in third.

The victory improved Immersive to 3-for-3 following a maiden victory and a triumph over Quietside in the Spinaway Stakes, both at Saratoga Race Course over the summer.

Immersive also earned an automatic, fees-paid berth in the Nov. 1 NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar as the Alcibiades is part of the “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. Friday’s Darley Alcibiades was the marquee event on the opening card of Keeneland’s fall meet, kicking off a three-day Fall Stars weekend loaded with Breeders’ Cup preps.

Additionally, the top five Alcibiades finishers earned qualifying points to the 2025 Longines Kentucky Oaks on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale.

Winning filly and rider. (Coady Media)

Always well positioned after breaking from the outside post under Manny Franco, 1.67-1 post-time favorite Immersive stalked Rich City Girl and Liam in the Dust through fractions of :23.01, :46.89, and 1:11.26 before taking command in the stretch. She seemed to lose focus down the lane, and a rallying Quickick loomed a danger.

“I thought I was gonna catch her,” Quickick’s jockey, Dylan Davis, told her trainer, Tom Amoss, after the race.

But despite a final sixteenth in a slow :07.14, Immersive, a bay Nyquist filly, remained in front, completing 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.64.

“We wanted to go farther with her since she won first time out, and today she proved that she wanted to go the distance,” Franco said.

Winning trainer Brad Cox seemed pleased to have won for Godolphin and Darley, an important client for his stable, noting with a smile that he heard about their past winless mark from Godolphin representatives in a good-natured way. He had won the race twice before for other owners.

“When they were loading the horses, I saw all the assistant starters were in Darley jackets, I didn’t know if that was good luck or bad luck,” he said. “But it was good luck today.”

Asked if he felt Immersive could head west to Southern California and win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, as Cox’s British Idiom did at Santa Anita Park five years ago, the trainer responded, “I sure hope so. This is a very talented filly.”–Byron King

May Day Ready Dials Up the Score in Jessamine Stakes

May Day Ready (center) best of a game trio. (Eclipse Sportswire)

After saddling the winners of top-level races around the globe as an assistant, trainer Joseph Lee finally seized his moment in the limelight when May Day Ready pulled off a gutsy victory in the $350,000, Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes Presented by Keeneland Sales, one race prior to the Darley Alcibiades on Keeneland’s Oct. 4 card.

“It’s not too much different, it’s just my name in the program now,” Lee said.

The last month has been a whirlwind for the horseman, who currently manages a five-horse stable at Belmont Park. KatieRich Stables’ May Day Ready handed Lee his first black-type stakes winner Sept. 8 in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies Stakes and sweetened the deal by giving the trainer his first graded stakes win in the Jessamine.

“She’s a nice filly and I’ve known that for quite a while to be honest with you,” Lee said. “It was a difficult week of preparation for us with all the rain up there.”

Lee had originally entered May Day Ready in the Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont at the Big A, which was rescheduled due to torrential rain storms. The trainer changed his plans earlier this week and vanned the Tapit filly down to Kentucky on Tuesday.

May Day Ready was keen after being jostled around during the opening stages of the Jessamine, but settled well off the pace under Frankie Dettori, who had ridden the filly in all three of her starts. Weaving her way between horses, May Day Ready advanced powerfully as the field turned for home and took aim on stretch leader Totally Justified.

May Day Ready quickened just as she had at Kentucky Downs, collaring Totally Justified at the wire in a blanket finish with a fast-closing Destino d’Oro to the outside. The three 2-year-olds hit the wire in unison, with May Day Ready proving best by the slimmest of margins. Totally Justified was a nose back in second, another nose ahead of Destino d’Oro.

“I thought we got beat to be honest. I thought we got third and that she ran well. Before the race Frankie (Dettori) said if she runs well here, ‘We’re going to the Breeders’ Cup,’” Lee said.

May Day Ready clocked the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.10 over a firm turf course. By winning the Jessamine, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series qualifier, the bay earned an all-expenses paid berth to the $1 million John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf Nov. 1 at Del Mar.–Molly Rollins

Federal Judge Picks Up First Graded Stakes Win in Phoenix Stakes

Federal Judge gavels an emphatic verdict in Phoenix. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Similar to his second-level allowance race win in late August at Saratoga, Federal Judge opened a clear advantage early and drew off late to post a 5 ½-length victory in the $314,275, Grade 2 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes earlier on Friday’s card.

On a track where speed fared well throughout the day, Federal Judge broke in good order from the rail under Flavien Prat and looked well within himself through a quarter-mile in :21.62. He put away a bit of a challenge from Comedy Town after a half-mile in :43.97 then drew off to the easy victory.

With the effort, the speedy 4-year-old Army Mule gelding campaigned by WinStar Farm and Siena Farm secured the first graded stakes win of his career. The consistent Federal Judge nailed down his fourth win in six career starts and going in seemed to be a good fit for the track Friday. In the four main-track races before the Phoenix, two winners led at every point of call and the other two rallied from just off the pace in second.

“It was a big win; we’re proud of the horse, proud of the effort,” trainer Brad Cox said. “Obviously just based off of what we’ve seen from the earlier races, speed’s good, rail’s good, so we’ll see. We walked in the paddock and felt it could definitely benefit him, and it seemed to have but we’re proud of the effort.”

Sent off as the second choice at 1.74-1 odds, Federal Judge completed the six-furlong test in 1:08.20 on a fast track. He was followed home by post-time favorite Nakatomi in second and Comedy Town, who entered off back-to-back stakes wins at Gulfstream Park, in third.

The Phoenix is a “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race that awards a fees-paid start in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint Nov. 2 at Del Mar. While it would be just his third start in a graded stakes, Cox said they’ll consider that option. In his only other graded stakes start, Federal Judge finished fourth in last year’s Woody Stephens Stakes Presented by Mohegan Sun at Belmont Park.

“It’s a thought,” Cox said. “We’ll talk it over with the WinStar team and the Siena Farm team and come up with a game plan fairly quick. It’s definitely something we’ll talk about over the next few days.”–Frank Angst